Rolling UK Comedy Thread - "Ricky Don't Lose Larry David's Number

is the internet to blame? things like facebook memes and buzzfeed have kind of taken the fun out of a lot of once-funny things imo.

The use of canned laughter - which is a comparatively recent phenomenon in UK comedy - doesn't help but if the shows weren't so unfunny then I suppose the programme makers wouldn't feel the need to resort to it. As for this Vic + Bob thing, it seemed to me that they were almost deliberately making it look as if it was in some way live by leaving in little flubs and pauses and then at the end they go and pull back to reveal it's being performed in front of an audience - I thought that was pretty desperate. There was actually applause at several times on the laugh track - since when did sitcom audiences applaud? I don't remember that in "Fawlty Towers"!

so laugh tracks are back are they? that vic and bob thing sounds like mrs brown's boys

What do you mean back?

But let's not confuse laugh tracks with canned laughter again! This was canned, I'm certain of that.

Linehan addressed this exact situation over Count Arthur strong - filmed in front of an audience, but uses a laugh track. His position is that the audience shows where the track should be, and nothing more.

The pull-back-and-reveal of an audience is fairly standard BBC fare for conventional comedy these days, I've seen the back end of several episodes of Miranda and it does exactly the same thing. I'd like to think Vic & Bob's was maybe more of a homage to the end of Croft & Perry shows, but Miranda is maybe even closer in form to them so this is probably wishful thinking.

Linehan addressed this exact situation over Count Arthur strong - filmed in front of an audience, but uses a laugh track. His position is that the audience shows where the track should be, and nothing more.

Stop making shite comedies then, Graham

There was no pull-back-and-reveal in Croft + Perry shows, or have I lost my marbles? (xp)

But let's not confuse laugh tracks with canned laughter again! This was canned, I'm certain of that.

I'm still confused as to the difference. Wikipedia says they're the same thing but a laugh track could be live.

OK I mean live vs. canned

What do you mean back?

― Eats like Elvis, shits like De Niro (Tom D.), Wednesday, January 15, 2014 12:49 PM (12 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

They fell out of fashion circa 2000 - Royle Family, the Office, League, Mighty Boosh and pretty much any sitcom that wasn't total shit did not have audience laughter.

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply there was a pull-back-and-reveal in Croft & Perry, but it seems to be the current BBC mechanism to enable a "you have been watching" close (cf Miranda, My Family).

That's definitely a thing in Mrs Brown's Boys which is fair enough as it has its origins in a stage show.

I get the feeling, but with nothing to justify it, that house of fools is supposed to look staged. Practically the whole show is in that 3/4 front room set, giving it a distinctly Sykes feel.

It's interesting that Linehan admitted to using a laugh track (as opposed using live audience laughter), did he use it on The IT Crowd though? I mean, would he use it on a show that (whatever your own opinion on the IT Crowd) was actually funny enough to enough people that you would imagine it wouldn't need one? Or maybe you only notice it when you don't find it funny? I (as a self-appointed representative of the canned laughter police) was always a bit suspicious of the second I'm Alan Partidge but was that because I didn't think it was as funny as the first series?

DL, I'm thinking the same. I used to hoover up all new comedy, but now there are a few things that tickle me but no life-changers. I do like Fresh Meat, and Toast was OK. The new Vic and Bob I could watch in small doses.

Rolling UK Comedy Into The Shitbin Thread

House of Fools is 100% filmed in front of a live studio audience. And since there are no VT cutaways, all of the laughter you hear is the audience laughing in the room. Whether it's sweetened or bolstered in the sound mix is a different story, but audiences go nuts at TV recordings - it's intoxicating and infectious.

The use of canned laughter - which is a comparatively recent phenomenon in UK comedy

UK sitcoms have been using laugh tracks since the early 1980s.

so he really did that trampette jump over the painting of the pygmy?

House of Fools is 100% filmed in front of a live studio audience. And since there are no VT cutaways, all of the laughter you hear is the audience laughing in the room.

And applauding the entrance of characters they've never seen before? For example.

I know the dude who did audience warm-up for this programme. Maybe he's just brilliant at his job!

studio audiences are encouraged to clap does this surprise you

In sitcoms though? In general entertainment shows, yes. Obviously you applaud at the end of the show but 5 or 6 times during the show? I'm obviously totally out of the loop concerning sitcoms.

... thank fuck

The more I think about this, the better I think it was. Top use of Throbbing Gristle too.

Eh? What where?!??!?!

A pretty uneven hit/miss rate, but the good bits were proper, hearty lols. Vic is so weird though - a pretty dreadful performer compared to Mortimer and Berry, but I don't think the show would work without him. Emo brother upstairs was good in small doses.

Hamburger Lady was used behind one of the puppet sequences, the first one I think.

Wow, I missed that!

And applauding the entrance of characters they've never seen before? For example.

This happens in literally every single sitcom pilot. Hank Kingsley wasn't warming up a sitcom audience, but his wise words still apply:

You folks see that flashing sign up there? Now, that sign says: "Applesauce." No, no, I'm kidding. It says "applause." Ray, do me a favor. Could you flick that once? [crowd applauds] All right. Now remember. You're all a big part of the show, so the better you are, the better Larry is. You see this gentleman? He's giving me this sign and it says, "We're on in ten seconds." So get ready to have a good time. All right, here we go. This is exciting, isn't it?

As for there are no VT cutaways and so he really did that trampette jump over the painting of the pygmy?

I just meant there were no Alan Partridge shouting Dan in the parking lot sequences - but even if there were scenes along those lines they'd be played out live on monitors, generally in sequence with the rest of the recording.

Rolling UK Comedy Into The Shitbin Thread

― mile.y (wins), Wednesday, January 15, 2014 8:23 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

A+

Inside No 9 is tops so far.

Also just watched The Life of Rock with Brian Pern, which was dreadful. Pity, as I generally like Simon Day.

oh, i enjoyed Brian Pern.

I've come to the conclusion that funniest thing on UK television at the moment = repeats of Wogan era Blankety Blank on Challenge

Best thing about Brian Pern was the triumphant return of Mulligan and O'Hare. I laughed quite a bit but it did feel kind of lazy in places, and certainly underdeveloped (like the sequence where Brian is against green screen with genre names he is putting together).

I wasn't completely convinced by the first Inside Number 9 but the silent episode was brilliant. Called the Kayvan Novak plot the second I saw him.

Ship of Fools continues to plod along being utterly shit and utterly brilliant, often at the same time. The pie episode had me on the floor at times, and the beaver/rat thing in the wig episode was a gold mine.

the vic and bob flashbacks to 70s and then 50s was great. the norwegian son is the funniest.

pern is applying spinal tap treatment to different targets, mainly peter gabriel. (although he seems ok with it - he's in one of the episodes)

I laughed like a drain when Vic was in Julie's house looking for the beaver/rat, even though the jokes were telegraphed miles in advance. I'm not so keen on the Norwegian son, and I had had an idea that Vic was going to turn out to be the dad, but this week's plot put the kibosh on that. I think secretly the best joke might be that the opening titles and interstitials have film/a photo of a block of flats, whereas they clearly live in a semi or an end terrace.

Peter Gabriel was the most obvious target in Pern, yes. Loved the way they deflected the D0n Ard3n parody by calling the real D0n Ard3n a cnut in the build-up. And all Queen's instruments being built from fireplaces.

"Ferne Cotton" made me laugh too

Yes, that was probably the best bit.

"Ferne Cotton" made me laugh too

― koogs

The only bit that raised an actual chuckle from me. Was looking forward to Mulligan and O'Hare too, but they didn't get any good jokes.

just watching Inside Number 9 #2 now and it reminds me of Tati.

anyone watch Babylon?

it was shit

and so long

yeah, might've been better as 3 episodes.

apres-ski is painful to watch. 'looking at the olympics like no-one else does'. except Last Leg which is on at the same time (and which itself seems pointless since the paralympics has finished)

The Last Leg gang still seem to care about what they do and have fun while doing it, and they do get right wired in about the politics surrounding the Olympics and that. Last week's Apres-Ski might be the worst thing I've ever seen on telly.

Babylon was trying to be too many things and didn't succeed in being any of them, I thought.

This week's Apres-Ski not much better. Alan Davies isn't funny, and neither is whoever writes the stuff on the autocue that he's really bad at reading off. I assume they wanted to do something that was equivalent to what The Last Leg did for the Paralympics, but they've got it really really spectacularly wrong in terms of host, format, writing, the lot.

yes, terrible, and I'm glad there's only one more to suffer through 8) not sure where the fault is - he's done standup before so is it that the structure is too rigid? has he lost it after years of being the patsy on qi? is it the dad jokes they've been writing for him?

last leg seems to now be based on internet fads. is often cringe worthy.

both were saved by their guests last night (barely)

has he lost it after years of being the patsy on qi?

He never had it in the first place, his career is a mystery to me

when you start your career as the stand-up Nick Hornby it's hard to believe things could actually get worse but hey